($1 = 10.6122 Norwegian crowns) (Reporting by Victoria Klesty, Editing by Terje Solsvik and Bernadette Baum)
Messaging: victoria.klesty.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) (Adds detail)
OSLO, April 27 (Reuters) - DNB , Norway's
largest bank, reported a bigger-than-expected rise in
first-quarter profit on Thursday, following a trend among Nordic
banks benefiting from recent rate hikes.
Net profit rose to 10.5 billion Norwegian crowns ($989.43
million) in the January-March quarter, from 7.6 billion crowns a
year earlier, while analysts on average had expected 8.9 billion
crowns, according to a poll compiled by the bank.
"We are experiencing growth in both the personal and
corporate customer markets," Chief Executive Officer Kjerstin
Braathen said in a statement.
Loans to customers increased 0.6% in the quarter while net
interest income surged 39.8% to 14.6 billion crowns, just above
analysts' average forecast of 14.5 billion, thanks to both
increased volumes and interest rates.
DNB and its Nordic peers have seen a year of rapid rate
hikes by central banks seeking to curb inflation, boosting the
industry's interest income and profits, and leading to
first-quarter profits that have exceeded expectations.
The Nordic region's biggest lender, Nordea ,
posted a larger-than-expected gain in first-quarter operating
profits on Thursday, saying lending volumes continued to develop
positively despite slowing economic activity.
While the first quarter was marked by international market
turbulence, activity in the Norwegian economy remained high, DNB
said.
Norges Bank was the first major central bank to begin hiking
rates in September 2021 and is expected to raise rates again
next week.
DNB said it had net reversals of impairment of financial
instruments of 79 million crowns in the quarter compared with
net reversals of 589 million in the year-earlier period.
The net reversals in the oil, gas and offshore industry
segment was 515 million in the quarter.
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